A coroner has reportedly declared the death of a man who shared living quarters with Lawrence Phillips in a California prison to be a homicide.
According to the Kern County Sheriff’s Office, Damion Soward died of neck compression asphyxia, or strangulation, The Associated Press reported.
Soward died Sunday after being found stricken the previous day in his cell at the Kern Valley State Prison.
Phillips, 39, has been named as a suspect in Soward’s death.
A first-round pick in the 1996 NFL Draft, Phillips is serving a 31-year sentence on multiple assault charges.
